A common perception in EA is that Open Philanthropy and other elite EA organizations focus on doing the most good, which can come across as detached from broader community engagement. However, I believe there is a strong case, even from an impartial welfarist perspective, that empowering the broader EA community to explore and test ideas could be extremely high-EV. The EA community is vast, and there is a wealth of ideas beyond what the elite circle generates. Yet, the “do-ocracy” model, where people are encouraged to pursue their own projects, often disempowers those who don’t have the time or resources to do so.
Additionally, the dismissal of “EA should” statements, where suggestions are ignored because the originator isn’t positioned to implement them, further limits the potential for innovation. While tools like the EA Funds exist, they focus narrowly on pre-determined areas, and rejections are often made without feedback, leaving many high-EV ideas unexplored and unsupported.
Given that much of EA’s potential for innovation lies within the broader community, what steps can Open Phil take to better engage with and support exploratory, high-EV ideas from the wider EA base? How can Open Phil foster an environment where more ideas from the community can be tested, rather than maintaining a top-down approach that may be missing valuable opportunities?
We fund Probably Good, who try to empower people to think along impact-focused lines while remaining open-minded about how different people can best help others.
Our grants to effective giving orgs have not been conditional on them changing their recommendations (though we’re more likely to support orgs whose recommendations we believe in).
Tbc, I think it’s a tough problem and tradeoffs between respecting autonomy and standing behind your judgment calls as a grantmaker.
A common perception in EA is that Open Philanthropy and other elite EA organizations focus on doing the most good, which can come across as detached from broader community engagement. However, I believe there is a strong case, even from an impartial welfarist perspective, that empowering the broader EA community to explore and test ideas could be extremely high-EV. The EA community is vast, and there is a wealth of ideas beyond what the elite circle generates. Yet, the “do-ocracy” model, where people are encouraged to pursue their own projects, often disempowers those who don’t have the time or resources to do so.
Additionally, the dismissal of “EA should” statements, where suggestions are ignored because the originator isn’t positioned to implement them, further limits the potential for innovation. While tools like the EA Funds exist, they focus narrowly on pre-determined areas, and rejections are often made without feedback, leaving many high-EV ideas unexplored and unsupported.
Given that much of EA’s potential for innovation lies within the broader community, what steps can Open Phil take to better engage with and support exploratory, high-EV ideas from the wider EA base? How can Open Phil foster an environment where more ideas from the community can be tested, rather than maintaining a top-down approach that may be missing valuable opportunities?
Hi Midtermist, I think this is a pretty important worry and appreciate you sharing your perspective.
Just speaking for myself and the EA (global health and wellbeing) program I work on (though it’s mostly led by Mel Basnak now).
Here are a few things we’re doing:
We fund Probably Good, who try to empower people to think along impact-focused lines while remaining open-minded about how different people can best help others.
We support orgs like Founders Pledge and Charity Entrepreneurship, who share our core values but who do their own research and might have different views.
Our grants to effective giving orgs have not been conditional on them changing their recommendations (though we’re more likely to support orgs whose recommendations we believe in).
Tbc, I think it’s a tough problem and tradeoffs between respecting autonomy and standing behind your judgment calls as a grantmaker.